Abstract

MEDICATION AND PRESCRIBING ERRORS ENCOUNTERED IN KHARTOUM DENTAL HOSPITAL

Dr. Rayan Elrasheed Gaafar Ballal*and Prof. Abdallah Omer Elkhawad

ABSTRACT

Background: A medication error, defined as a failure in the treatment process that leads to, or has the potential to lead to, or harm the patient. It can occur at any step of the medication use process. A special attention should me focused on medication error to prevent the patients from being harmed and to optimize treatment. Prescription errors can be very serious and can lead to dangerous health conditions. Objective: To analyze the quality of prescription and to assess the prevalence of prescribing and medication problems reported in Khartoum dental hospital pharmacy. Method: a descriptive, cross sectional study conducted in Khartoum Dental Hospital. 154 prescriptions were collected randomly. Results: A total of 154 prescriptions were collected and reviewed from Khartoum Dental Hospital. The study revealed poor knowledge of the dentists about the drugs used in dentistry and they do not follow the legal requirements regarding prescription writing. The duration of therapy was not mentioned in 94.23% of prescriptions. The patient‟s and doctor‟s address/Tel number were not written in all prescriptions neither the patient‟s weight and sex (error=100%). The total quantity of the medicine prescribed were not mentioned in 84.61% of prescriptions. Conclusion: There is a need to critically address the legibility of prescription and all other information of a prescription concerned with patient, prescriber and drugs to minimize the occurrence of medication errors and to optimize therapy.

Keywords: A medication error, Khartoum dental hospital pharmacy, prescriptions.